n. A mean, worthless fellow; a currish or sneaking scoundrel: applied in reproach or contempt.

n. A gay or rakish man, especially if young; a sport or gallant: applied, usually with an epithet (young, impudent, etc.), in mild or humorous reprobation.

n. In astronomy: [capitalized] One of two ancient constellations lying south of the zodiac, known as Canis Major and Canis Minor. See Canis.

n. The dog-star.

n. A name of various mechanical devices, tools, and pieces of machinery.

n. Same as dog-head, 1.

n. A sort of iron hook or bar, with one or more sharp fangs or claws at one end, which may be fastened into a piece of wood or other heavy article, for the purpose of moving it: used with various specific prefixes, See cut.

n. An iron with fangs for fastening a log in a saw-pit or on the carriage of a saw-mill.

n. Any part of a machine acting as a claw or clutch, as the carrier of a lathe, or an adjustable stop to change the motion of a machine-tool.

n. plural The set-screws which adjust the bed-tool of a punching-press.

n. A grappling-iron which lifts the monkey or hammer of a pile-driver.

n. A click or pallet to restrain the back-action of a ratchet-wheel by engaging the teeth; a pawl.

n. plural In ship-building, the final supports which are knocked aside when a ship is launched; a dogshore.

n. In a lock, a tooth, projection, tusk, or jag which acts as a detent.

n. A grab used to grasp well-tubes or -tools, to withdraw them from bored, drilled, or driven wells.

n. plural Nippers used in wire-drawing. They resemble carpenters' strong pincers or pliers, and are sometimes closed by a sliding ring at the end of the strap or chain which slides down the handles of the nippers.

n. The painted hyena or cynhyene. See Lycaon.

To follow like a dog; follow with or as with dogs, as in hunting with dogs; hunt; follow pertinaciously or maliciously; keep at the heels of; worry with importunity: as, to dog deer; to dog a person's footsteps.

To fasten, as a log by means of a dog (see dog, n., 9 ), for sawing.

Nautical, to grip, as a rope, to a spar or cable so that the parts bind on each other, to prevent slipping, and causing it to cling.

n. A short, heavy piece of steel, bent and pointed at one end and with an eye or ring at the other. It is used for many purposes in logging, and is sometimes so shaped that a blow directly against the line of draft will loosen it. Also called tail-hook.

n. In agriculture, an implement for dragging brush, roots, and poles out of the ground; a brush-puller.

n. a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds

n. a hinged catch that fits into a notch of a ratchet to move a wheel forward or prevent it from moving backward

n. informal term for a man

n. a smooth-textured sausage of minced beef or pork usually smoked; often served on a bread roll

Etymologies

Middle English dogge, from Old English docga.

(American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

From Middle English dogge, from Old English docga ("hound, powerful breed of dog"), a pet-form diminutive of Old English *docce (“muscle”) (found in compound fingerdocce ("finger-muscle") with suffix -ga (compare frocga ("frog"), picga ("pig")), from Proto-Germanic *dukkōn (“power, strength, muscle”). More at dock. In the 16th century, it superseded Old English hund and was adopted by many continental European languages. (Wiktionary)

Examples

To illustrate, consider a sentence like ˜A dog barked™, and suppose that ˜dog™ denotes the set X,

The term "dog days" was coined by the ancient Romans, who called these hot and humid days caniculares dies or "days of the dogs" after the star Sirius -- Canis Majoris, the "Greater Dog," which is one of the hunting dogs of Orion.

"The corresponding physiological and psychological differences are equally decided, as witnessed in the dispositions and temperaments of dogs, their comparative docility, intelligence, etc., and consequently the uses to which they are or may be put. In the matter of size alone, for example, some toy dogs are tiny enough to stand easily on one of the fore paws of a large dog." --Cent. Dict.

I think this kind of link can go on a person's profile, but is borderline spam on word pages. Like chained_bear, "I get suspicious when a person logs onto the site and posts only 1 or 2 comments that direct people to another site." In fact only 1 comment has been made and 0 lists. If a representative of OED came over here and started dropping links to their site and nothing else I'd consider it spam too.To me the problem is that there are other ways of doing things, if the noob bothered. E.g. It could have set up a Dog Metaphors open list and invited contributions, perhaps with its site link in the description line. So I think it's okay to probe noob early on and encourage/admonish/welcome/nuke as appropriate.

Like I said, it was just a question. I post more than my share of links, and certainly don't begrudge the same activity to any other users, new or old. But I get suspicious when a person logs onto the site and posts only 1 or 2 comments that direct people to another site. Hence, my question. *shrugs* Sue me. I'm happy to be wrong in this instance, but I think it's a valid question.

I think you are being a little unwelcoming, c_b. Given the website's name and description, it's not unreasonable to think that it's likely to be of interest to a community of people with a shared interest in words. Just visiting the website would have cleared up your question (and I'm pretty sure you would have found it rewarding - I did). Do we really want to take new members to task for alerting us to fun stuff elsewhere on the web? I hope not.

Amacleod: The site is terrific, and I look forward to having a chance to read the essay later on. A couple of possible additions to your main entry list might be:

Why? Is there something on your website that is etymologically related to "dog"? Are you here to list words and/or join the conversation, or just to promote your website? Not trying to be rude, just asking an honest question!